# How to show docstring-based documentation in IJulia notebooks?

**URL:** <https://discourse.julialang.org/t/how-to-show-docstring-based-documentation-in-ijulia-notebooks/40814>\
**Category:** Tooling\
**Tags:** question, ijulia\
**Created:** [June 5, 2020, 2:46pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/how-to-show-docstring-based-documentation-in-ijulia-notebooks/40814 "2020-06-05T14:46:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![sylvaticus](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/sylvaticus/32/203883_2.png) [@sylvaticus](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/sylvaticus)\
**Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 2:46pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/how-to-show-docstring-based-documentation-in-ijulia-notebooks/40814/1 "2020-06-05T14:46:01Z")

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If I type `?[Function]` in a jupyter notebook with a IJulia kernel, I can see IJulia searches for the documentation and it “finds” it, but it doesn’t show it :-/ :

![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/original/3X/8/1/81ba2c283ac5e650153f2558f645f4c5b8fbda38.png)

Julia 1.4.1, IJulia 1.21.2

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**Author:** ![stevengj](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/stevengj/32/71_2.png) [@stevengj](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/stevengj)\
**Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 4:15pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/how-to-show-docstring-based-documentation-in-ijulia-notebooks/40814/2 "2020-06-05T16:15:03Z")

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Works for me (Julia 1.4.1, IJulia 1.21.2):

 ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/original/3X/3/9/39bde684cfcd4eae15a5e2f22fbc3f1e74b209f5.png)

Maybe you need to update your `jupyter` installation?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![sylvaticus](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/sylvaticus/32/203883_2.png) [@sylvaticus](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/sylvaticus)\
**Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 4:36pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/how-to-show-docstring-based-documentation-in-ijulia-notebooks/40814/3 "2020-06-05T16:36:35Z")

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Thank you, but I have the latest jupyter from pip… and honestly seems something more julia-related than jupyter.

(yes, I did try different browsers)

I do have however some warnings when I start Jupyter:

```julia

lobianco@NCY-BETA-ALOBIANCO:~/.julia$ jupyter notebook
/home/lobianco/.jupyter/jupyter_notebook_config.py:15: UserWarning: Directory /home/lobianco/.julia/packages/WebIO/9qsL8/deps could not be found; WebIO.jl will not work as expected. Make sure WebIO.jl is installed correctly (try running Pkg.add("WebIO") and Pkg.build("WebIO") from the Julia console to make sure it is).
  warnings.warn(warning_msg)
[W 18:31:18.031 NotebookApp] Error loading server extension jlstaticserve
    Traceback (most recent call last):
      File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/notebook/notebookapp.py", line 1670, in init_server_extensions
        mod = importlib.import_module(modulename)
      File "/usr/lib/python3.8/importlib/ __init__.py", line 127, in import_module
        return _bootstrap._gcd_import(name[level:], package, level)
      File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1014, in _gcd_import
      File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 991, in _find_and_load
      File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 973, in _find_and_load_unlocked
    ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'jlstaticserve'
[W 18:31:18.032 NotebookApp] Error loading server extension jupyterlab
    Traceback (most recent call last):
      File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/notebook/notebookapp.py", line 1670, in init_server_extensions
        mod = importlib.import_module(modulename)
      File "/usr/lib/python3.8/importlib/ __init__.py", line 127, in import_module
        return _bootstrap._gcd_import(name[level:], package, level)
      File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1014, in _gcd_import
      File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 991, in _find_and_load
      File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 973, in _find_and_load_unlocked
    ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'jupyterlab'
[I 18:31:18.032 NotebookApp] Serving notebooks from local directory: /home/lobianco/.julia
[I 18:31:18.032 NotebookApp] The Jupyter Notebook is running at:
[I 18:31:18.032 NotebookApp] http://localhost:8888/?token=97f2541ddd4687575dee8d61fb418e395c9dd939749c2138
[I 18:31:18.032 NotebookApp] or http://127.0.0.1:8888/?token=97f2541ddd4687575dee8d61fb418e395c9dd939749c2138
[I 18:31:18.032 NotebookApp] Use Control-C to stop this server and shut down all kernels (twice to skip confirmation).
[C 18:31:18.081 NotebookApp] 
    
    To access the notebook, open this file in a browser:
        file:///home/lobianco/.local/share/jupyter/runtime/nbserver-615629-open.html
    Or copy and paste one of these URLs:
        http://localhost:8888/?token=97f2541ddd4687575dee8d61fb418e395c9dd939749c2138
     or http://127.0.0.1:8888/?token=97f2541ddd4687575dee8d61fb418e395c9dd939749c2138
[I 18:31:45.633 NotebookApp] Creating new notebook in 
[I 18:31:46.668 NotebookApp] Kernel started: 98c9a044-eaee-42a5-aa6d-7793941586c5
Starting kernel event loops.
[I 18:31:52.999 NotebookApp] Adapting from protocol version 5.0 (kernel 98c9a044-eaee-42a5-aa6d-7793941586c5) to 5.3 (client).
[I 18:33:46.885 NotebookApp] Saving file at /Untitled2.ipynb

```

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**Author:** ![FedeClaudi](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/fedeclaudi/32/33490_2.png) [@FedeClaudi](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/FedeClaudi)\
**Post date:** [December 20, 2022, 11:14pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/how-to-show-docstring-based-documentation-in-ijulia-notebooks/40814/4 "2022-12-20T23:14:54Z")

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I haven’t actually tried this in a notebook, but it should work: [Term Repr · Term.jl](https://fedeclaudi.github.io/Term.jl/dev/adv/repr/#Termshow)